Audiobooks by Compton Mackenzie

A Charlie Chaplin War: Two novels of British Intelligence in World War 1

"Two novels inspired by the author’s personal experience in British Intelligence during the First World War: in which Naval Intelligence officer Roger Waterlow, stuck ashore in a sweltering country in South-eastern Europe, and working from scraps of gossip gathered by his ramshackle network of agents, struggles to make a real difference in the war, against the indifference and incompetence of the British authorities. First, in Extremes Meet, he seeks to show up a blatant violation of the country’s ‘neutrality’ by its pro-German king; and then, in The Three Couriers, he attempts to capture the papers of messengers carrying incriminating correspondence to Berlin that might give the Entente powers vital insights into German intentions."

Compton Mackenzie (Author), Graham Scott (Narrator)

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The Three Couriers

"Round about the second anniversary of the start of World War 1, Roger Waterlow is still stuck ashore in charge of the ramshackle British naval intelligence effort in a sweltering notionally ‘neutral’ country in South-eastern Europe. As rumour follows rumour and the situation becomes daily more confused, Waterlow and his organisation learn of three couriers trying to carry correspondence to Berlin—correspondence that might give the Entente powers vital insights into German intentions for the region, if only they can be intercepted and their papers seized…"

Compton Mackenzie (Author), Graham Scott (Narrator)

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Extremes Meet

"In the middle of the First World War, and sweltering in the heat of a nominally neutral country in South-eastern Europe, disillusioned Naval Intelligence officer Roger Waterlow seeks to make sense of scraps of information gathered by his agents, in the face of indifference or outright hostility from most of his colleagues at the British Legation. But when word reaches him that a German officer visiting from Berlin for talks with the country’s pro-German king is to be picked up by submarine, violating the country’s ‘neutrality’, he sees the chance to finally make a real difference in the war…"

Compton Mackenzie (Author), Graham Scott (Narrator)

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The Ealing Comedy Collection: BBC Radio Full-Cast Remakes of The Ladykillers, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Passport to Pimlico & Whisky Galore!

"A quartet of classic Ealing comedy films, reimagined for BBC Radio Between 1947 and 1957, Ealing Studios produced a series of immensely popular, darkly funny film comedies that made the West London borough famous throughout the world. Almost 50 years later, four of these timeless films were recreated for BBC Radio 4, and are now collected together for the first time. The Ladykillers – Eccentric elderly widow Mrs Wilberforce unwittingly foils a gang of crooks lodging in her London house under the pretext they are a string quintet. Dramatised by award-winning playwright Bruce Bedford from the much-loved 1955 film, this captivating crime caper stars Edward Petherbridge, Donald Sinden, Margot Boyd, Johnny Morris and Stratford Johns. Kind Hearts and Coronets – Disinherited by his snobbish aristocratic familly, Louis Mazzini sets out to gain his rightful place as a Duke by bumping off the other eight D’Ascoyne heirs who stand ahead of him. But then he is arrested for the one murder he didn’t commit… Michael Kitchen stars as Mazzini and Harry Enfield as the various members of the D’Ascoyne family in this brilliant dramatisation of the classic 1949 comedy film. Passport to Pimlico – When an undetonated World War Two bomb accidentally goes off, the explosion reveals a cache of treasure – including an ancient treaty declaring that the residents of Pimlico are actually part of the Duchy of Burgundy… Adapted by acclaimed scriptwriter John Peacock from the evergreen 1949 film, this delightful drama stars George Cole, Louise Lombard and Sylvia Sims. Whisky Galore – It is the middle of World War Two, and the residents of the Hebridean islands Great Todday and Little Todday are facing a whisky drought. Then a cargo ship bound for America runs aground carrying 50,000 cases – but can the islanders keep this unexpected bounty secret? Bernard Holley and Dolina MacLennan star in this witty dramatisation of Compton Mackenzie and Angus MacPhail’s 1949 film. Written by Wiliam Rose (The Ladykillers), Robert Hamer and John Dighton (Kind Hearts and Coronets), T E B Clarke (Passport to Pimlico) and Compton Mackenzie (Whisky Galore!) © 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Compton Mackenzie, John Dighton, Robert Hamer, T.E.B. Clarke, Wiliam Rose (Author), Bernard Holley, Dolina Maclennan, Donald Sinden, Edward Petherbridge, Full Cast, George Cole, Harry Enfield, Johnny Morris, Louise Lombard, Margot Boyd, Michael Kitchen, Stratford Johns, Sylvia Sims (Narrator)

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Whisky Galore

"Stanley Baxter reads the witty Compton Mackenzie story set in the Scottish Islands. The inhabitants of Great and Little Toddy think they can cope with World War II - but then the whisky runs out. Life becomes intolerable, until fate delivers them a shipwreck with a cargo of whisky."

Compton Mackenzie (Author), Stanley Baxter (Narrator)

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